Education....Not Just Talk

Every President and Governor in my lifetime that has made a speech about education has always said the right thing....that education is important, it is our future, teaching is an honorable profession, education lets us compete in a world of increasing globalization and on and on and on. Every politician loves to annoint his or herself as the education President or education guru and then regrettably when times are tough, do not honor the words and committments stated in their eloquent speeches. Often they make teachers the villains and school boards wasters of tax money. Today, President Obama will be visiting a high school in Kalamazoo because of its performance in the Race to the Top education competition. It is nice to have a President attend a high school graduation and talk about the importance of setting standards and competing and learning, but most times, these words are hollow and without follow up. Arne Duncan, the Secretary of Education is doing a reasonably good job with the message, but so much is broken that it takes a lot more than words to fix it. The President has said that teachers are underpaid, but there is no mechanism in place to insure that they are given their rightful place in the respect hierarchy as in other cultures. The President says that technology and science are important, but there is no mechanism in place to break the realities of Federalism and State control over standards and paying for public education. In my own state, the Governor wants to break the Union, has contempt for it and has used public frustration with a bad economy, to slash local budgets for school aid. Teachers are being let go, supplies and courses are being eliminated and college graduates cannot find teaching jobs in many areas. I am not an apologist for corruption that needs to be addressed, but I want to see people really support education with action, direction and real contribution to honor their words as politicians. Education is indeed important and as our school year comes to an end, the prospects for the future are dim. Our leaders need to keep their words to a minimum and maximize their actions or American children will fall further behind. Where are you Americans for reason and truth?